Max Lowe and Steve Cook: Nottingham Forest pair ruled out for six weeks

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Steve Cook arrived from Bournemouth in January and Max Lowe joined from Sheffield United last summer

Nottingham Forest defenders Max Lowe and Steve Cook will be out of action for the next six weeks, according to boss Steve Cooper.

Lowe, 24, was taken off with a groin injury in the 41st minute of Saturday's 4-0 Championship victory over Reading.

And 30-year-old Cook was substituted in added time at the end of the game at the City Ground with an ankle problem.

"We won't be the only team that's got injuries to key players," head coach Cooper told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"These things can happen and if we dwell on it for too long it will become an even bigger negative than what it is."

Ninth-placed Forest have 11 games remaining to try to secure a place in the end-of-season play-offs.

Just nine points separate Huddersfield Town in third place and Millwall in 11th - with Forest two points currently adrift of the top six.

Lowe, who is on a season-long loan from Sheffield United, has made 22 appearances this season, scoring once, and Cook has played 13 games since arriving in the January transfer window from Bournemouth.

Forest are at home to Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday and then face Premier League giants Liverpool at the City Ground in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.